Microsoft Office Products Support Lifecycle FAQ

Microsoft FrontPage

1. What is the Support Lifecycle policy for Microsoft FrontPage Server Extensions 98?

All support for FrontPage Server Extensions 98 ended on February 28, 2002

Microsoft Office

1. How will the new Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy benefit customers of the Office family of products?

The Support Lifecycle policy was developed to provide Microsoft customers with clear and predictable support information about all Microsoft products. The policy was developed in response to customer requests for longer-term, clear, and consistent product support information. The policy will help customers and partners to effectively plan for their software requirements based on long-term knowledge of the support lifecycle for Microsoft products.

2. How are existing releases of Office affected by the new support lifecycle?

Customers have told Microsoft that they are looking for a clear and easy-to-understand support lifecycle that is defined in years, not in product versions. Microsoft is providing year-based support timeframes both for future releases and for Microsoft Office XP, Microsoft Office 2000, and Microsoft Office 97. The following items describe these support timeframes:

Office 97 – Assisted support options for Office 97 ended on January 16, 2004. Mainstream hotfix support for Office 97 ended on August 31, 2001. Extended hotfix support ended on February 28, 2002. Self-help online support will be available for at least one year after assisted support concludes.

Note that all assisted support for Microsoft Outlook 97 ended on December 31, 2001. Outlook 97 was succeeded by Microsoft Outlook 98, whose support ended as stated above.

Office 2000 – Microsoft will continue to offer mainstream support for Office 2000 through June 30, 2004. The Office 2000 extended support period will last from July 1, 2004 through July 14, 2009. The latest Office 2000 service pack is required for hotfix support.

Office XP – Microsoft will continue to offer mainstream support for Office XP through July 11, 2006. The extended support period for Office XP will last from July 12, 2006 through July 12, 2011.

Generally, previous releases of the Office family of products are covered under previous support guidelines. Except where noted earlier in this document, the most recently released version and future releases of all Microsoft products will be covered under the new Support Lifecycle policy. For more information, see Microsoft’s Product Support Lifecycle Policy FAQ document.

3. Will support information for the Office family of products still be available after the end of both mainstream and extended support?

Yes. Online self-help support information will remain available through Microsoft for at least one year after assisted support has ended on a specific Office product. Many other support options are also available from partners. To locate partners, visit the Microsoft Pinpoint web site. Volunteer experts in the Office Discussion Groups may also be able to help with your questions. You may be able to receive an answer from a knowledgeable and dedicated Office community member or from a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) member if you post your question to the newsgroup.

4. Is Microsoft Office 95 still supported?

All Microsoft assisted support for Office 95 ended on December 31, 2001. For online self-help support, search the Microsoft Knowledge Base. If you need assisted support, you can find experts in the Office Discussion Groups who may be able to answer your questions about Office 95.

5. Now that the Support Lifecycle policy has been announced, will hotfix support be reintroduced for Office 97?

No, extended hotfix support for Office 97 ended on February 28, 2002. Microsoft assisted support ended on January 16, 2004. Online self-help support will be available until at least January 16, 2005. Office 97 downloads for security-related issues will continue to be available through typical assisted support channels at no charge through January 16, 2004 or longer if demand warrants.

6. Will Microsoft still create Office 97 security-related hotfixes through the end of the product lifecycle?

For increased security and reliability, Microsoft advises customers to upgrade to the latest version of Office and to installthe latest service pack as soon as possible. For those customers who are still running Office 97, Microsoft has prepared guidelines to help use Office 97 more securely (see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 310365, "Office 97 Macro Security Recommendations"). Office 97 downloads for security-related issues will continue to be available through typical assisted support channels at no charge through January 16, 2004 or longer if demand warrants.

7. Are Microsoft Office Solution Accelerators supported?

Microsoft Office Solution Accelerators (“Accelerators”) are provided as examples of how customers can solve a specific business problem. Microsoft does not provide support for the Accelerators and does not plan to release future versions of the Accelerators.

Microsoft Outlook

1. Which Lifecycle Support policy covers Outlook 98 and Outlook 97?

Microsoft assisted support for Outlook 98 ended on January 16, 2004. Microsoft assisted support for Outlook 97 ended on December31, 2001. However, many other support options are available from partners. To locate partners, visit the Microsoft Pinpoint web site. Volunteer experts in the Office Discussion Groups may also be able to help with your questions. You may be able to receive an answer from a knowledgeable and dedicated Office community member or from a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) member if you post your question to the newsgroup.

Microsoft PhotoDraw

1. Is PhotoDraw still supported?

PhotoDraw is considered to be an Office 2000 product. PhotoDraw will be supported under the same policies as the Office 2000 suites. See the Office 2000 information in this document, or visit the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Web site for information about support dates for PhotoDraw.